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The Latest: Hirohito memoir bought by Japanese doctor

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Latest on the auction of a memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito (all times local):

9:45 p.m.

The buyer of a memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito (hee-roh-HEE’-toh) that sold in New York for $275,000 has been identified as a Japanese plastic surgeon who wants to give the document to the imperial family.

Dr. Katsuya Takasu tells The Associated Press in Tokyo that “it feels like it’s finally coming home.” He says he’s trying to figure out how to give it to the only grandson of current Emperor Akihito, because there’s a limit on gifts to the imperial family.

Takasu says he has no plans to show the work to the public.

The 173-page document offers the emperor’s recollections of World War II and was dictated to several of his aides soon after the war ended. It was sold at Bonhams Wednesday.

The memoir was created at the request of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, whose administration controlled Japan at the time.

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5:30 p.m.

A memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito (hee-roh-HEE’-toh) that offers his recollections of World War II has fetched $275,000 at an auction in New York.

The 173-page document was dictated to several of his aides soon after the end of the war. It was sold at Bonhams on Wednesday.

The rare memoir was created at the request of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, whose administration controlled Japan at the time.

The memoir covers events from the Japanese assassination of Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin in 1928 to the emperor’s surrender broadcast recorded on Aug. 14, 1945.

The document caused a sensation when it was first published in Japan in 1990, just after the emperor’s death.

A spokeswoman for the auction house said the winning buyer was from Japan, but didn’t provide any additional details.

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